Behind The Design: Mid-Century Modern Kitchen

Designer Q&AKitchenArticlesKitchenMid-Century

Polished concrete flooring and glossy, flat-paneled cabinetry perfectly compliment this home's mid-century modern aesthetic. In the following Q&A, we dive into the thought process of Linda Mazur - the talent behind the design:

What were your clients’ needs for this space?

My client loves to cook and entertain, so a chef’s kitchen was a must, with space for friends and family to sit and enjoy time together while she prepares a meal. Also, my client’s wanted to maintain some of the original mid-century modern influences of the home.

Were there any challenges to designing this space?

Yes, this kitchen has several doorways (entrance points) from various other rooms, and originally only had a small window. The original footprint would not allow for a center island with seating, so we redesigned the kitchen moving some of the doorways to accommodate a substantial sized island with seating while still allowing for a comfortable traffic flow throughout the kitchen. We also added a large picture window overlooking the beautiful ravine lot.

Do you have any special considerations or requirements when designing a kitchen space?

Functionality is a must, but definitely not at the expense of aesthetics. When I’m designing a kitchen and selecting finishes I like to ensure we have several different textures within the space. In this kitchen we have a beautiful porcelain tile floor that mimics polished concrete, adding great muted tones and textures to our kitchen. Also, the high gloss off-white cabinetry is accented with the lighter wood-grain cabinetry, reminiscent of the mid-century modern era and finally we added a touch of cabinetry around the fridge and wall ovens in this gorgeous wired-brushed metallic bronze finish for an added bit of interest.

How does the flooring play into your design?

Flooring is always an important part of the design process. In this case as you are entering the kitchen from one of the adjacent rooms you have a very large stone wall in your site-line, therefore it seemed only natural to me keep that site-line undisturbed by blending the textures and colors in that stone wall into our kitchen flooring by using this beautiful polished concrete tile.

This is not a substantially large kitchen, but with a bit of a redesign of the floor plan I was able to accommodate a great deal of functional storage, larger scaled appliance, the desired double wall ovens and seating without compromising the traffic flow throughout the space. We have some well-organized hidden storage on the pantry wall and island customized to suit my client’s needs; and then added a large open shelving area on the opposite wall of the kitchen for storing and displaying some of my client’s cookbooks, dishware and collectibles.

Why did you choose these colors?

I wanted to design a space that was calm and inviting, with a few mid-century modern touches to flow with the rest of the home. This kitchen has an abundance of natural light so using modern earth-tones, metallic and light toned wood keeps the space looking fresh and current, making it easy to punch-up with accent colors depending on your mood.

What is your favorite aspect of this room?

I love the fact that we were able to use three different finishes of cabinetry to highlight different textures within this space. I maintained a simple mid-century inspired flat door profile for the cabinetry and added interest by using these three different finishes/colors…I think it really makes the kitchen and creates a very simple yet stylish space for this home.

What did you client like the most?

My client was thrilled with the final outcome of their kitchen. It reflects the original era of the home which was an important factor for them, and it has a modern, stylish comfort for cooking and entertaining at the same time; it’s the chef’s kitchen they always dreamed of.

Linda Mazur is the Principal Designer of Linda Mazur Design Group

Linda Mazur Design Group a sought out multi-disciplinary interior design firm known for providing innovative interior renovations and full scale build projects that reflect both timeless style and optimal functionality. The firm services clients throughout Canada based in Toronto. @LindaMazurGroup